My reaction to receiving two cracked ice cube trays was, at first, annoyance. I buy almost everything on the internet now. Figuring out the return policy and repackaging the product were going to be more of a nuisance than I’d take the time for. I probably would have tossed the broken trays and bought them at 5x the price at Fairway or another expensive outlet in my neighborhood.

And then I noticed the blue sheet in the envelope thanking me for shopping The Bargain Shack! And on it was the magical offering that signifies great and thoughtful companies:

Please allow us to make things right before leaving a negative rating.

They know! Not that I would have even taken the time to do that. But notice how this simple offer turned around the bad taste in my mouth. I immediately emailed the company, received a personal and funny response:

We ship the ice stick trays in bubble mailers to keep the weight and shipping cost to a minimum.  It appears to be adequate, usually, as we’ve sold hundreds of sets and this is the first breakage complaint that we’ve received.  But, with a plastic item, breakage was bound to happen eventually, and I’m sorry that you are the unlucky winner of that lottery.

We’ll ship you out a free replacement set today, and it should arrive on Monday or Tuesday.

Thank you for your business, and for giving us the chance to make things right, instead of just pulling the trigger on bad feedback, as many buyers do.

What lessons can you learn from that? And can you apply them to your business?